Popular search engine Yahoo is now planning to launch its own publisher ad network in India by partnering with other publisher networks in India to brands and advertisers an exponentially larger target audience and consolidate their inventory for advertising side by side.

A number of sources have confirmed this impending launch by the company, but details of the same remain sketchy. We know for certain that the new network will work on the same concept of niches adopted by other publisher networks to target the correct audience. For instance, glam media is a popular network started by Glam.com which targets women’s websites. The launch of this network by Yahoo is an interesting development especially after the company sold its 35% share in Tyroo bought back in 2007 to Xplorer Capital.

Again, since the exact details are not clear, a definitive picture cannot be drawn about what Yahoo is planning. While an official word from Yahoo is yet to come, reports suggest that the company has been signing up publishers for a while now with their smartads platform that enables advance re-targeting.

Google has a major presence in India when it comes to its ad product solutions including Adsense and Adwords. It will be interesting to see what Google's strategies are after Yahoo! successfully launches this ad network for publishers / bloggers in India.

Nexzenpro, an advertising network that claims to be one of the premium networks shortlisted by Yahoo! India and that its ads will be routed through two networks in India by Yahoo could also not give exact details about this supposed tie-up. What Nexzenpro did say was that their partnership with Yahoo will “help monetize remnant inventory”. However, the specific type of ad campaigns and the nature of the tie-up could not be elaborated on by the Nexzenpro representative. Yahoo India on the other hand has given no official confirmation about the tie-up with this company.

For those who do not know the exact nature of publisher networks of the kind being discussed above, publisher networks are supply-side networks. In simple terms, they first analyze the potential reach and supply of the inventory, and then contact potential advertisers and publishers. Thus, first the supply is aggregated and then a publisher database is built. This is the most dominant form of publisher network in India, although a few demand side networks also exist.

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